Dawn of the Lead

I try to avoid hyping (apart from some zombie flicks) but I believe I speak for a whole lot of Alien franchise fanboys, when I say Prometheus by Ridley Scott is one of the most hotly anticipated movies coming out in 2012. Of course, the big question hanging over the movie is “Is it an Alien prequel?”

Ridley Scott has been both denying and admitting it  – saying that Prometheus is a new story, set in a new world. The following from Wikipedia:

In February 2011, Scott maintained that the film was not an Alien prequel, but confirmed in December 2011, that the Space Jockey was still an aspect of the plot. [Actor Michael] Fassbender stated the film would feature elements of Alien, saying “Prometheus is absolutely connected to Alien… There’s a definite connecting vein.” In June 2011, [writer Damon] Lindelof stated that he concurred with Scott’s belief that the Alien creature had been “diluted” by the exposure it had received since Alien and did not want the film to be “burdened by all the tropes of that franchise with Facehuggers and Chestbursters”. Lindelof stated that the film takes place in the same universe as Alien, but is not a story about the events leading into that film, saying “a true prequel should essentially proceed [sic] the events of the original film, but be about something entirely different, feature different characters, have an entirely different theme, although it takes place in that same world.”

In July 2011, Scott stated “by the end of the third act you start to realize there’s a DNA of the very first Alien, but none of the subsequent [films]” and called it “pretty organic to the process and to [Alien]”, but maintained a distinction between the two films, saying “we go back, we don’t go forward.” In a February 2012, interview, Lindelof described the film as a hybrid in tone between Alien and Blade Runner, pushing a philosophical idea alongside action.

To support the above, a new viral advertising video just recently popped up, showing one Peter Weyland from Weyland Industries delivering a speech in TED 2023.

What’s that got to do with Alien? The big bad corporation in Alien, Aliens and Alien³? It’s called Weyland-Yutani. I’ll let you compare the company logos:

Image from http://weylandyutaniassoc.deviantart.com/

To further underline the connection between the films, here are their respective trailers:

So, Alien meets Blade Runner? Count me in.